Lights, Camera, Deception
by SSSammiSue
Summary: Late January, 2012 Dan visits New York and quickly befriends Brian, a struggling actor. After viewing Dan's YouTube channel Brian is quick to offer him some advise to get more subscribers. Brian suggests that even though Dan is straight to embrace his fans thinking he's gay, and soon they find themselves in what appears to everyone else to be a loving gay relationship.
1. Chapter 1

The line in front of me seemed to stretch on forever. I stood against the wall patiently as I was sandwiched between two men far more attractive than me. The guy in front of me wore his black hair slicked back, accompanied by a leather jacket and tight jeans that outlined his manhood. It looked like he jumped straight out of Grease, he was definitely going for a Danny Zuko look and it fit him very well. Behind me stood a six foot brunette that introduced himself to me as Luca Corazza. We started chatting to pass the time; he told me about his Italian background and why he moved, and when I said my name was Brian Lafond he asked about my heritage as well. I shared some stories about my Cuban heritage as the line slowly moved forward. An hour later I find myself at the front of the line. The Danny Zuko character walks out of the audition room looking very confident in himself.

"Next!" We hear the producer shout.

"Good luck Brian," Luca says to me in his cute accent as I enter the room. I walk in to find the producer, director, and co-director watching me. All three of them are sitting at a table with stacks of resumes in front of them. They look like they don't want to be here; they have been watching auditions for over two hours. The producer glances at the paper in front of him then back up at me.

"State your name, age, and character you're auditioning for."

"Brian Lafond, 22, and I'll be auditioning for Daniel." It was a jump to addition for this new TV show being shot in New York, but I know I'm good enough. Plus being gay already makes playing the role of Daniel, a gay man, that much easier. The director reads the lines of Paige, the best friend of Daniel, as I act and prove to them that they should hire me for this show. After my monologue my audition scene ends and the three of them take a second to whisper about me to each other.

"Brian," the producer speaks up, "You are talented, I'll give you that. I am concerned about your experience though; I see here you've been an extra a few times, you appeared in a commercial for a local restaurant, and helped voice a radio ad. This is a very demanding role and you've never dealt with the pressures of having to be on set for longer than a week. If we decide we want to see more of you, I'll give you a call and tell you when callbacks are. That's all I can say for now."

"Someone had to discover Neil Patrick Harris," I joke, and thankfully he acknowledges my joke with a smile. "Thank you Mr. Thomas," I say before exiting the room. I walked out and looked at Luca, "Break a leg," I said as he walked into the audition room. I found my car easy enough and began my drive home. As I drive I replay my audition in my head thinking about Mr. Thomas's words. I know I need more experience, that's why I would love to be a part of this show. Not to mention Daniel is the perfect character for me!

When I get home I take a hot shower to relax after a long day of standing in line. As the water cascades down my body it wipes away any and all feelings of worry. After spending far too much time in the shower I step out into the steam filled bathroom. My parents and brother would be asleep by now so I dry off and walk to my bed, not bothering with clothes. As I lie there I remember I don't have to go to work at the cheesecake factory tomorrow. I usually work every week day, but my manager had given me Monday off. As my eye lids get heaver I think of what to do tomorrow. Maybe I'll take a walk through Central park and enjoy the snowfall.

I woke up later than expected. I'm so used to getting up at 9 am on Monday's to get to work. I slept in and didn't wake up until noon. I was home alone for the time being, I will be until my little brother gets home from school. I head to the kitchen and make myself an egg sandwich. Once I've had my breakfast I look outside to see how much snow we got over the night. For late January I expected a lot more than the few inches I saw. I decide on walking through Central park so I grab my wallet and car key and drive away. Once I get there I find a spot to park and get out. Going on walks or exploring lets me think through a script or recent audition. Somehow replaying auditions in my head as I walk allows me to evaluate myself well. The snowflakes fall delicately against my skin, cool to the touch but instantly melting on my 98.6 degree body. I could hear people ice skating in the distance, and many other people had the same idea as me to come to the park. New York is fast and busy but on this January day Central park seemed rather peaceful. Hearing someone's voice near me interrupts my thoughts. Is someone talking to me? I turn around to see someone recording himself. He's cute, kind of short, maybe 5 foot 9? His blonde hair is gelled up into a short faux hawk, and he's bundled up in a heavy jacket and scarf.

"Should I do it? Should I make a snow angle?" He says to his camera. I think his camera said yes because he proceeds to lie in the snow and move his legs and left arm back and forth as he records himself. I see a couple people glance at him, they must think he's nuts. "I'm sure these people think I'm insane. I should probably stop and talk to you guys another time. Kay bye." He finishes up his video as I join him in the snow and begin to form a snow angle of my own.

"So what are you doing?" I ask, curious.

"Oh hi," he says turning towards me, sounding almost embarrassed someone caught him. "I'm just vlogging for YouTube."

"So did your viewers tell you to come to Central park and make snow angles by yourself, or…?" At that moment we both stand up, wanting to get out of the cold snow.

"I actually just got done recording with a friend that lives nearby, and I wanted to record a little more of the city. I'm Dan by the way, or mallow610 as I'm better known."

"I'm Brian Lafond."

"Nice to meet you Brian," Dan says, extending his arm to shake my hand. We shake hands and I proceed to ask him questions, wanting to get to know him better.

"Do you do YouTube full time? Am I actually talking to a famous person right now?"

"Nah, my full time job is being a server at TGI Friday's. I do make money from my videos, but I've only got 6400 subscribers. What do you do?"

"That's 6400 more than the average person; and I'm an actor… struggling actor," I say correcting myself. "I'm also a server at the Cheesecake Factory since my acting career hasn't exactly taken off."

"I love the Cheesecake Factory! Your guy's mashed potatoes are the best!" Dan said very energetically. Somehow making snow angels with a random guy led to an hour long conversation. We ended up sitting down on a bench as the snow fell softly onto our faces. I learned a lot about him in an hour; he's from Connecticut, he graduate from the University of Connecticut with a mathematics degree, he started YouTube in 2006, he currently lives with his mom that he calls Babz, and his older brother is engaged to be married.

"There's a lot of YouTubers here in New York, so I'm sure I'll be coming back sometime soon for another collab, or just to go shopping," Dan says.

"We should hang out sometime. The Nordstrom mall has everything, if you're interested we could walk around and do some shopping," I say, enjoying his company.

"Yeah, sounds like fun. Why don't we exchange numbers and I'll text you next time I'm in town." We both pulled out our cell phones and handed them to each other to type in our numbers. Once we each got our phones back Dan said he had to catch a train soon. "I'll see you later Brian," he says walking away.

"Bye." Needless to say as soon as I got home I found his YouTube channel and subscribed. I started watching his videos and stopped when I had to get ready for bed. His videos are addicting, he has such an amazing personality, and of course he's beyond cute; all great qualities for a successful YouTube channel. After watching more videos than I care to count I decide his channel is underrated. He just needs something to catch people's attention. I wonder if he would be interested in having me on his channel sometime; we could do skits like some of his older stuff. It would be fun acting experience. Since I do have to work tomorrow I put my thoughts to rest, strip down to my boxers, and crawl in bed.

At the Cheesecake Factory the next day I'm anxious to get out of work to check my phone. I'm hoping to see that Mr. Thomas called me to offer me a callback, or if Dan texted me. Once I clock out at the end of the day I immediately check my phone. Zero text messages, but I do have a voicemail! Listening to the message I realize it was just my mom asking me to pick up some groceries on my way home. The rest of my week is basically the same, going to work followed by checking my phone. As the week passes I begin to worry I'm not getting a callback. Friday night I decide to text Dan to see what he's been up to. Apparently the answer is making videos, playing video games, and eating Oreos. We texted back and forth for a bit and then I asked him when he thought he'd return to New York. Apparently he works weekends, which sucks since we're on two completely different schedules. We decide to get together next week on Tuesday when I get done with my shift at 5. When Tuesday comes I pick him up at the train station and we drive to the mall.

As we shop I quickly pickup up on Dan's favorite color as he continuously tries on various blue shirts. We talk about our week and our jobs.

"Did you get a callback for that TV show?" Dan asked me as he placed a third shirt in his arms.

"No. It's been over a week, I didn't get it," I say finally admitting it to myself. "How's YouTube? Got a lot of new subscribers? I checked out your channel-"

"I noticed," he said interrupting me, "I keep all of the emails I get of people subscribing to me. I saw a Lafond66 subscribed to me and I figured that was you."

"Yeah. Your channel seems so underrated; you make good stuff I don't see why you don't have a bigger following."

"Well thanks. Funny thing is most of my audience is gay. They I assume I am, but I'm not."

"Honestly I did think you were from some of your videos. No offense! I'm gay myself."

"None taking," he smiled at me. "I'm fine with it; I think if I did tell them I'm gay it would just get me more subscribers."

"Just imagine what would happen if suddenly you had a boyfriend to show off," I state casually.

"You available for hire? Or is that considered prostitution?" Dan joked. Even though he was joking a light bulb flickered on in my head.

"It's not such a crazy idea. You'd get the bigger audience you want; it's more acting experience for me and-"

"So you're saying you would act as my boyfriend? We'd have to…" he thought for a second, "Basically go on dates and record it and you'd probably have to give me some acting lessons. I'd basically be paying you to hangout me." We both took a second to absorb in what was happening here then Dan added, "Speaking of pay…"

"We're friends. I don't charge a lot; how about… $80 a month?" He seemed okay with this. "I don't do anything half assed, so first things first; you're going to have to come out to them. I feel like it should be more than just a coming out story though. Why don't we go back to my place and start your acting lessons?"

Is it really so crazy what we're doing? Sure it's a lie; but people look up to YouTubers. Seeing a happy gay couple might give them hope that they too can come out of the closet; that they can be proud of who they are and who they love. When you get down to it what we're doing is a good thing, and it's really not hurting anyone.


	2. Chapter 2

After many hours of acting lessons, along with many Skype conversations, Dan was finally ready for what we had planned. After thinking through it we agreed that recording the event of him coming out to his mother would be an easy way to tell everyone.

"You seem very… metrosexual, so telling Babz you're gay she might say something like 'I think I knew.'" I explained to him one night on Skype. I wanted to prepare him for anything that might happen, but he assured me he was fine with it and Babz would be too. Today, on February, 23 he texted me and said he was finally doing it. Later I watched his video and I could tell he was honestly nervous, but unlike everyone else, I knew the real reason behind his nerves; he was lying to his mom and everyone else. After watching the video I texted him and asked him to get on Skype so we could video chat.

"It was a really good video," I say as soon as he answers my Skype call. "I really liked what Babz had to say."

"Have you seen what everyone else is saying? So many of the comments say they already knew, and I'm not even gay! But even more say it gave them the courage to come out, so it's worth it. So when are we hanging out? I'll need some footage of our 'dates.'"

"You'll want to give it some time. Give this video a few weeks to gain some popularity. Besides, you wouldn't get a boyfriend right after coming out. I was thinking give it a month or two and then we'd make a video of meeting each other for the first time. Followed by videos of us just hanging out, let your viewers put the pieces together. Usually if I a guy just came out he's not quick to tell everyone he has a boyfriend. And would you characteristically automatically share your love life online?"

"Good point. I guess we'll have to take things slow," Dan responded. We continued to chat into the night, but eventually we were too tired to talk. Neither of us expected to get the kind of attention his coming out video received. After a few weeks it had over one million views. Dan was getting a lot of attention for it; he even got interviewed by a couple different people. We discussed the kind of things he should say but he seemed like he would do fine without my help. Between the time he posted that and the next time we got together he told me he gained 5000 plus subscribers. After his coming out video we kept texting and Skyping, but we didn't hang out for over a month. Part of that being I was busy with some auditions and our schedules just wouldn't allow it. Finally in May we got together and went shopping at the Nordstrom mall. As we shopped around we came up with a story as to how we met to use in the video later. I tell him I don't plan on saying much, that he should talk to his subscribers. Later when we're walking around outside the mall Dan pulls his camera out.

"Hey guys, so it is… what day is it today? Monday? It's freaking Monday, it's amazing, it's…" we were walking kind of close so I gently brush my hand against his, as if I was trying to hold his hand. "Oh don't, you're touching me!" Dan reacts.

"Sorry," I say quietly, not wanting to talk over him as he continues. When he finishes recording two minutes later I start laughing.

"What?" He asks me.

"You're reaction was funny when our hands accidently touched!"

"As soon as I said that I felt like I shouldn't have."

"It's fine, it was cute. Your viewers will think I was trying to hold your hand and think I'm into you. All relationships have to start with a crush."

"You have clearly put much more thought into this than I have."

"If you want to make people believe your story you have to do it right," I respond. After that day we start hanging out a lot more, I was even able to get a day off each week so I could go hangout with him.

We went on hikes, to the movies, played miniature golf, walked around New York City. We actually had a lot of fun hanging out. He even asked me to be in a live show. Dan wanted to try out Google plus hangouts one night when I came over. He said he wanted to do it then because of the thunderstorm that was supposedly coming, but it never did. He continued gaining subscribers and comments were filled with "Who's Brian," "I think they're dating," and in our first video together, "He tried to hold your hand!" A lot of times I would stay the night at his house and read comments together. He reads every comment but sometimes he would have me read them to him. Everyone already knew we were together by December, but we never actually told them. The way I acted in each video people picked up on it very easily by what we weren't saying. Some comments would say "he looks like he wants to throw his arms around you" or "Brian clearly wants to kiss you, let him!" Middle of December, when we were hanging out at my house, Dan asked me to do the boyfriend tag with him. Obviously I said yes, even though I didn't know what it was.

"Let's wing it," he said setting up his camera equipment in my basement. "Everyone wants to see it, and I'm sure we've hung out enough to answer the questions. I'll explain it in the beginning of the video as well." So apparently we just had to answer questions about each other. It's good that he wants it to be spontaneous, but we'll probably run into a question or two that we'll have to make something up, I'm sure. A few questions in he had to say what his first impression of me was. I'm definitely interested in what he has to say. Dan described me as "very chatty, very talkative, and descriptive." It made me laugh because it reminded me of that hour long conversation we had when we first met.

"And I noticed your eyes," he adds. "Cause they're gorgeously blue," I never realized how close he actually pays attention to me. "They're really blue, they're like extremely blue," hearing this compliment from him got me a little flustered, but it fit with the video. I don't know why his compliment affected me like that. He did have to edit out us deciding on a date we "started dating." I had suggested sometime after he uploaded "Welcome To My World Of Truth," to show that things got better when he started dating.

"Are you staying over tonight?" I ask him once we finish recording.

"I can't I have to work tomorrow. I can stay a little longer, but you'll have to drive me to the train station in a couple hours." For those two hours we decide to watch Mean Girls, but eventually I drop him off at the train station.

"I guess it's my turn to go to Connecticut. When do you want to hang out next?" I ask before he gets on his train.

"It'll have to be a couple weeks. I'll text you." I say goodbye and wrap my arms around him, giving him a goodbye hug. I wait for him to end the hug, not wanting to end it myself. I watch Dan as he boards his Train, and for some reason I stay and watch him through the window until his train leaves. Damn it. I'm into him. We're great friends I wouldn't mess that up, besides, he's straight. I might as well move on; of course that's easier said than done. Throughout the rest of December and January I can't help but love all of the time we spend together. At this point he's not even paying me to act, I'm just being myself. I feel bad about taking his money and tell him he doesn't have to pay me anymore, but he insists.

It's actually been a year since I met Dan, and it's been the best year of my life. We've become so close, but even when he refers to me as his best friend I can't help but feel sad that that's all we'll ever be. I know I need to move on, and I've tried. I've been on dates but no one seems good enough. My brother was at a sleepover, and my parents went out for a date night telling me not to expect them to come home tonight, so I'm left home alone with my thoughts. Since I'm home alone I'll probably just watch some TV. I go down to the basement and flick the TV on to HGTV to find an episode of House Hunters playing. Just a few minutes into the show I hear the doorbell ring. Not expecting anyone I walk upstairs confused as to who would be here this late.

I open the door and see Dan standing there. Before I can even ask him why he's here he leans forward and presses his lips to mine. For months I've been imagining what his lips would feel like against mine. His soft lips seem so ready, so eager. I don't question it, I just go with it. I kiss him back and Dan's hands run against the top of my belt. He grabs the bottom of my shirt and swiftly pulls it off my body, tossing it to the ground. Pressing his lips into mine even harder he slips his jacket off and it joins my shirt on the floor. Keeping his lips against mine he walks me to the stairs and we continue to make out as we travel up the stairs and into my bedroom. He gets my belt off with one tug and tosses it across the room. Falling into my bed I look him in the eyes and see his gorgeous blue eyes filled with lust. I pull him closer to me and gently close my lips on to his bottom lip. I slide my hands under his shirt and run them across his skin. His skin is so soft. I pin him down and roll on top of him, my left leg fitting right between his. I give him a tender kiss as my hands begin to undo the buttons on his shirt. Once I have his shirt off his pants are next. Watching his face I undo his button and slowly unzip his jeans. He looks like he has been aching for this. Grabbing his briefs along with his pants I pull them down his body and let them fall to the floor. I lie down on top of him and press my lips to his. Dan opens his mouth just enough to let me slip my tongue in. As our tongues collide I can hear the soft sounds our mouths make as we kiss, along with each breath we take. Dan's tongue retreats as he refocuses his lips on my neck. He kisses me so softly, so soft it's as if he's worried he'll break me. The soft kisses are followed by biting. As Dan's teeth begin to pleasure my neck I bury my face into his neck. I bite him back, rougher than he's doing to me. I can feel him moan into my skin as I leave bite marks all over his neck. I roll over, letting him climb on top of me. He lies on top of me straddling my right leg, but I grab him by the ass and position him so my whole body is between his legs. His lips return to mine and I open my mouth to deepen the kiss. I start to move my hips like the motion of a wave as we exchange kisses. Dan follows my lead and moves his body back and forth, gently rubbing his naked body against mine. Even with my pants still on, Dan rubbing up against me feels amazing.

"Are we going to…?" Dan asks as he slides his fingers down my pants. His touch on my inner thigh woke up every part of me. I gave him a smirk and pushed him off of me. I took my pants off faster than I thought possible and lay my naked body on top of his. I give him the most sensual kiss and continue down his torso, making my way to what I've been craving for months now.

After a while we both find ourselves out of breath. I grab him by the waist and pull him close, spooning him. I drape my arm over his body and intertwine our fingers together, holding his hand. Our hands are held by his chest, so I can feel his heartbeat. Dan's body is so warm and comfortable as we snuggle together and slowly drift into sleep. Part of me wonders why Dan came here in the middle of the night, but the other part just wants to enjoy this moment and make it last. I do make a note to myself to ask Dan in the morning why he came over, but when I wake up he's nowhere to be found.


	3. Chapter 3

I wake up to an empty house and an empty bed. Dan must have left at some point during the night. We were supposed to hangout this week so I text him asking when we're hanging out next. Also I wanted to know what exactly happened last night. As much as I enjoyed it, I wonder why it happened in the first place. Dan doesn't text me back until much later, and I'm confused by his response. "I only need you for the Valentine's Day video, so I'll come over in a week, on the 7th." His texts are never this business-y. Something is going on with him but he refuses to answer me after that.

What is wrong with him? Why won't he embrace the connection that there clearly is between us? I know last night wasn't just sex, not to me. Every soft touch, every kiss; I can still feel him on my lips. You don't just have a night like that. A night that makes you feel like you've been sleeping until this one moment. It's like… that moment together, sharing my body and everything about myself woke me up from life to show me what I'm missing. I'm missing him. One way or another I need Dan in my life. For whatever reason _he_ came to me last night, so now I need to start putting more effort into him. He clearly has some kind of issue with this, and I just want to show him he shouldn't have anything to worry about. He already has the support of the world, what more does he need? Remembering I still have to get to work today I push my thoughts aside and get ready for the day. At least it's Thursday and I'm only two shifts away from the weekend. As time passes day after day I feel like I need to do something for him. Dan might not know exactly how I feel about him so I decide to tell him in a way he might understand: through video.

After sulking around for a few days with no communication with Dan whatsoever I decide to make my very own YouTube channel. I take a short amount of time to set up my empty channel. Once that's done I set up my camera to record my first YouTube video. Going along with the story we created I began my video.

"Dan, I remember when I first found your video, and saw that hot adorable guy all nervous coming out to his mom live on camera." Once I had that out of the way I dove in to how I really feel about him, "It's been almost 8 months, 8 of the most incredible months of my life." Even as friends the time we have spent together has truly been so much fun. Each word I said couldn't be truer as I continued, "You make me so happy, and literally I spend every moment of everyday just waiting until I get to see you again. It's what gets me through my days." With the date approaching, I had a question for him that I really hoped he would say yes to, "Will you be my Valentine?"

I know I can't post this right away. I want him to be surprised but I don't want him to be caught off guard, and I definitely don't want him to feel pressured by everyone else to say yes. On the 7th when he comes over I try to talk to him but he wants to jump straight into filming. We both say "love is love," and then Dan says he wants to film the ending first. I swear each time I didn't have to speak I was looking at him, admiring what he's doing for everyone, and admiring how close we are. Our bodies were touching each other and his hand rested on my leg as I held his hand. "There's no need to be ashamed of who you are and who you will become." Dan paused and after a few seconds of him not saying anything and staring into the camera I examine the look on his face.

"Are you okay?" I ask.

"I can't do this." How can he not do this? We've had this video planned for a while, and so many other YouTubers are submitting clips! "I can't," he turns his head to look at me, "I can't lie anymore." I figured our little charade would have to end at some point, but now, in the middle of filming this video? I respect him for wanting to tell the truth though.

"Okay," I say giving in. "I'm not sure how you want to go about telling everyone, but I'm a part of this lie too so I'll help in any way I can."

"What? That's not the lie I'm talking about." Dan looked over at the wall taking a second to collect his thoughts. "I'm talking about the only real lie throughout this entire thing. I didn't lie to anyone," he returned his gaze to me, "except myself. It's not that I _thought_ I was straight, I just wanted to be. But then you came into my life and turned everything upside down. I was immediately attracted to you. And it scared the shit out of me. I wanted to be with you but I didn't. I guess that's why I wanted to create this fake relationship."

"Maybe we need to start fresh," I chime in, "Tell everyone what happened, and go from there."

"What is there to tell them? Don't you get it? There was no lie. I'm in love with you Brian." I couldn't believe what I was hearing. My straight boy crush wasn't so straight anymore, and now it doesn't seem so crazy knowing that he's gay too, or bi.

"So is this you finally coming out of the closet? Admitting that you're gay, or bi?" Not that it really mattered, I just wanted to hear him say it, and have him hear him say it.

"None of the above. Pretty sure I'm Brian sexual, because I can't imagine wanting anyone else." I could tell I was blushing by the butterflies those words made in my stomach. This moment with Dan seemed so surreal. I grinned from ear to ear, unable to stop smiling. We held each other's gaze for a second as I admired his eyes. My eyes quickly glanced down at his lips, then back up to his soft eyes. I leaned in ever so slowly, pausing, letting Dan come to me. I could feel even more butterflies as he leaned in closing the space between us. When our lips finally met it felt like all of the stars were aligned. I know we've kissed before, but hearing him say how he feels about me made it that much better. "Oh," Dan says after our kiss ended, "This whole thing was recorded. I never turned the camera off."

"Well I can always take that for you," I half joke, happy I can relive the moment Dan said he's in love with me. "You wanted to kiss for this video, so we've got that!"

"Actually we'll have to do it again," he smiles, "Except this time it has to be serious. No smiling."

"As long as I get to kiss you again," I say leaning in and pressing my lips to his, not wasting anytime. I pull away to see Dan's straight face, but I can't seem to shake the smile from mine.

"I said serious," Dan says to me.

"I guess I can't help it." I'm glad Dan told me about all of this as soon as he did, because the rest of the video is filled with cuddles and neck kisses, really showing off the chemistry between us. After recording the video I invite Dan to stay the night, but he reminds me he has to work in the morning. "Why don't we cuddle up on the couch and watch a movie?" I suggest. We spoon on the couch and I make Dan little spoon as we watch "The Devil Wears Prada." My lips find their way to Dan's neck several times during the movie. At one point I brushed my free hand against his cheek (my other hand was busy holding his), and turned his face back to mine to give him a kiss. I didn't want this moment to end, but eventually it had to and I drove Dan to the train station. "You'll have to come over again next week, and maybe I can go to Connecticut the following weekend."

"It sounds like a plan. I'll see you soon." Dan leaves me with a soft kiss and boards his train. I watch him until his train leaves and then drive back to my place excited for the next time I can see my boyfriend. It's an amazing feeling to call Dan my boyfriend, although it seems kind of strange considering we never went on a date, it just kind of happened. I guess I should plan our first date. Valentine's Day is Thursday, that would be a perfect first date. I still have my video I need to post asking him to be my Valentine. My original plan was to wait for the night before Valentine's Day, so I resist the urge to post it now. To hold myself over until I can see him again I Skype with Dan every night before I go to bed, except Wednesday. Instead of telling him how much he means to me on Skype like usual, I finally post my video at midnight. I tweet it to Dan saying "mallow610 will you be my #Valentine?" I know he's not asleep yet and won't be for a while. My email and twitter interactions start to blow up with comments on the video, but there's only one response I care about. Fifteen minutes later Dan appears in my interactions saying "yes!" His tweet is followed by a text, "I guess that explains why you didn't Skype me tonight. But get on now! I want to see you." The second I log on Dan calls me and his beautiful face appears on my screen.

"Hey cutie," I say happy to see him.

"You are the most amazing person ever," he says making me blush, "And yes, I will be your Valentine. I was wondering why you didn't call tonight but I guess you were recording that. I'm really glad I told you how I feel about you last week. I was stopping these kinds of things from happening. Ever since that day I've been thinking of you nonstop too."

"Actually," I said realizing he doesn't know how long I've felt like this, "I recorded that before we got together to film Love is Love." I gave him a second to think about that. "I love you Dan, and I wasn't lying; I've been thinking about you every second of every day for months now.

"I didn't realize…" He trailed off, not sure where his thoughts were taking him. "I just thought you were a really good actor." I smiled.

"I am, and I was acting at first but soon I didn't need to. It wasn't until a few months ago that I realized I really like you. I didn't do anything about it though because you were straight. Well that was questionable, especially when you showed up to my house in the middle of the night-" Dan cut me off.

"That was…" he took a moment to gather his thoughts, "I wanted you. I thought maybe I just had to get it out of my system. But everything just felt so right, every touch, every kiss. I remember your chest was so close to my ear as we snuggled that I could hear your heartbeat. It felt so right but I didn't know what to think. That's why I left. That night was absolutely amazing though; we'll have to have another like it."

"Funny you should mention that," I say. "Throughout this whole thing we haven't really gone on a date."

"So what did you have in mind?" Dan asked excitedly.

"Valentine's Day is tomorrow, technically today. You'll come over to my place and I'll cook dinner for you. It'll be perfect."

"How do you know it will be perfect?" He asked, not believing me. I looked back at him wondering how I got so lucky.

"You'll be there," I say knowing every moment I spend with him is more perfect than the last.


End file.
